Sometimes, a filmmaker makes a film which is closest to his heart. Kaagaz Ke Phool was that film for Guru Dutt. The master was both in love and repulsed by showbiz and the film brought out both emotions in the extreme. Guru Dutt was a pessimist at heart. He understood that we live in a need-based world and we cease to exist for people when we can’t fulfill those needs. Perhaps this home truth was too raw for the audience then, hence this expensive film bombed at the box office when it was first released. And tragically, Guru Dutt never directed a film under his own name again. It’s another matter that today the film is considered a classic and is a part of syllabi in film school’s worldwide. The film had many similarities to the director’s own life. His marriage with singer Geeta Dutt was on the rocks and his alleged romance with muse Waheeda Rehman was turning out to be a one-sided affair. All these elements were brought to play in the film. Another insight into Guru Dutt’s psyche can be had by the fact that his character of a filmmaker made Devdas in the film, casting Waheeda as Paro, the ultimate face of unrequitedlove ever.